​The diverse and ever-evolving American betting industry has a new wagering product in its ranks: Bait. A peer-to-peer mobile betting platform on which friends can place sports wagers against each other, Bait is heralding a new era of social sports betting in the United States.

Launched out of Chicago and currently available exclusively to iOS users, Bait syncs with a customer’s iPhone, identifies other Bait users and lets them challenge people they know to take on the opposite side of a wager. Using lines from Las Vegas sportsbooks, the app allows bettors to wager on NFL, NBA, NHL, soccer, tennis, college sports and MMA matches, with three markets open for each fixture – over/under lines, points spreads and straight out head-to-head wagers. In terms of betting limits, minimum and maximum stakes of $1 and $100 respectively apply.

Once the match is finished, Bait sends a notification to both bettors and prompts the user who lost to settle payment through the winner’s Venmo page. This is where mobile betting through Bait gets particularly interesting: there is no obligation for the person that lost the bet to pay up. Instead, an Uber-like rating system is applied, whereby users rate their rivals after every wager; those that fail to settle losing bets are likely to get negatively reviewed, in turn deterring others from challenging them in future.

In light of this payment system, the question of how Bait makes its money immediately springs to mind. Unlike traditional betting exchanges, Bait does not take a cut of the stake. Company founder Ian Peacock has indicated the app will lean on advertising to become profitable, rather than monetising through charges imposed on bettors.

It is precisely unique selling points such as these that have seen Bait capture the imagination of social sports bettors across the United States, where the peer-to-peer betting scene is on the rise. In addition to its novel payment method and review system, the app makes mobile betting a truly engaging, social and fun experience through additions such as the in-app chat feature, where friends can ‘trash talk’ each other as bets unfold.

It is also a safe and secure betting platform. Unlike offshore gaming operators, there is no obligation to sign up and link credit cards and other personal information to the account. Furthermore, one of the most important aspects of Bait’s offering is that this social gambling platform has been deemed legal due to there being no obligation to pay out and the company not taking a cut of bets. This is an assurance that many betting providers find hard to provide US-based customers with, given the country’s convoluted sports gambling regulations.